APPLICATIONS GO OUT FOR STUDENT CURATOR

One student announces candidacy, SGA president potential candidate

by Bill Rolfes

The search is on for the next student representative to the UM Board of Curators, and UM-St. Louis will provide that student.

Applications for the student curator position became available Tuesday. Michael Rankins, vice president of the Student Government Association, said one person has taken an application but none have been submitted by press time.

So far, Josh Stegeman, a sophomore chemistry/biology major, is the only student to take an application. He said he decided to run for student curator after Avery announced at the Aug. 27 SGA meeting that UM-St. Louis will lead the search.

"That is something I'd want to do just because I think I could have a lot of influence on the Board," Stegeman said. "It's a position to make a difference if you really want to try."

Members of the Intercampus Student Council have suggested UM-St. Louis SGA

President Jim Avery could be a possible candidate, Karl Schmitt, president of the UM-Rolla Student Council, said.

"We were just discussing who might be able to run, and he (Avery) is eligible, so his name was just one that we threw out," Schmitt said.

"We just said, hey, he could run."

Avery said he has not submitted an application for the position. Avery has removed himself from the selection process and has passed his duties to Rankins.

A committee will interview all the candidates and submit three recommendations to Gov. Mel Carnahan, who will appoint the student curator Jan. 1, 1998.

Every two years the governor of Missouri appoints a UM student as a representative to the UM Board of Curators, and the appointment rotates among the four campuses. The current student curator, Troy Nash, is from UM-Kansas City.

Avery said the student curator must be the single voice of 50,000 UM students.

"The student curator is the most important student in the UM system," he said.

The student curator serves a two-year term and must attend every curator meeting. The student curator also meets with the Intercampus Student Council to discuss students' issues and report their views to the Board of Curators. However, the student is not allowed to vote on any issue.

Applications for the position are due Sept. 26.